Detailed modeling of KALIF beam-target experiments

The Karlsruhe Light Ion Facility KALIF generates proton pulses of typically 50 ns duration with proton energies up to 1.7 MeV and currents between 0.2 and 0.4 MA. The protons are focussed on thin aluminum foils thus generating specific energy densities of a few MJ/g, pressures of up to 60 GPa and temperatures of about 20 eV in the targets. Time resolved velocity measurements are used to study the hydrodynamic response of ablatively accelerated foils, and plasma temperatures are determined from K/sub /spl alpha// emission spectroscopy. We compare radiation hydrodynamic models and synthetic K/sub /spl alpha// spectra with the measurements in order to deduce details about the beam history of the KALIF diodes.